Theatre / Terror by Ferdinand von Schirach, directed by Kim Beamish. At The Mill Theatre, Fyshwick, until June 15. Reviewed by ARNE SJOSTEDT.

It’s a killer of an idea. A fighter pilot is on trial for taking down a plane of hijacked passengers, and the audience gets to sit as his jury.

Inside a claustrophobic box, the theatre operates like an interrogation chamber. Its white walls and heat from the lamps plunge the audience directly into the intense problem being unpacked. Is it right to kill some to save many?

Set in Germany, written by German lawyer Ferdinand von Schirach, the script plays a leading role in this tense drama about working out where the moral position sits.

Raising questions about the validity of human created laws, set against an event with enormous consequences either side of the moral proposition – who is qualified to sit in judgement against one man who decided to take the law into his own hands?

A jury of humans there to see the show, that’s who. It is quite a powerful way of engaging both the analytical, ethical and emotional faculties of those there to watch, and hopefully interpret, the play.

In this version of a courtroom drama, the State Prosecutor (Lexi Sekuless) and Defence Lawyer (Timmy Sekuless), play pivotal roles. As does the Presiding Judge (Tracy Noble).

Much resets on the opening and closing statements, the interrogation of witnesses and treatment of the facts being presented. Here, the decisions of the playwright around what’s discussed becomes important. It is clear von Schirach uses his characters to guide the audience toward the difficult moment where they would have to choose if the pilot is guilty of a crime or not. And it isn’t an easy maze to weave.

Mark Lee embodied the role of the pilot Lars Koch, however perhaps the most interesting sequence involved Lexi Sekuless and Lieut-Col Christian Lauterbach (Neil Pigot), as Pigot’s testimony put the audience into the horrific last hours of the passengers tragically stuck on the doomed hijacked flight.

It was all very gripping, and tensely presented by director Kim Beamish.